


Galras? In my flying space castle?

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Lance is an idiot, i got tired of the galra reveal being generic sadstuck, so heres some boys being dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-24 18:39:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7519019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something happens into Keith in the middle of the night, and Lance's initial reaction maybe isn't the most helpful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Galras? In my flying space castle?

There were a million things that could have triggered it. He’d been shot in the stomach last week, they faced off with a galra general just the other day, later Keith would look back and consider that maybe Coran had just put something odd in their dinner that reacted negatively with his fucked up dna. The meltdown was inevitable, the whole shebang laden with clues the whole crew would look back on in wonder, it had been staring them in the face the whole time hadn’t it? How had no one seen? Pidge claimed to have had suspicions, but honestly Keith didn’t believe that. He knew himself better than anyone, and he was nothing but surprised when he woke up in the middle of the to searing pains in his stomach.

It was the kind of pain that shook gasps from you, deep enough that clutching at your sides abates it none as it rolls over you waves. You get a split second reprieve in between each attack that only gives you enough time to dread the next heavy punch to your gut. 

Keith was still half-trapped in dream and the pain only served to blur his mind more. It was worrying- this could be appendicitis or some strange alien parasite gnawing on his insides. With halting gasps Keith stumbled out of bed, slamming into the wall and knocking himself silly for a moment before the pain rose up in his stomach again. It wasn’t a stomachache or the sore throb of an injury, it was a cramp deep in his abdomen, like some internal organ that had been quiet up until now was awake and kicking and screaming inside him. Keith choked back vomit. He was sweating and his eyes were watery- he was still pressed against the wall. 

The pain was making his legs weak. Keith grit his teeth and moved forward with his arms pressed against the wall to support himself. He had to stop when the pain got too bad and just moan and let the castle swirl around him uncertainly. He wasn’t sure, but was it moving upwards? 

The castle was entirely dim. The only light guiding Keith forward was a dim blue glow of lines hugging the corners of the ceilings, their light barely bright enough to give Keith a shadow in the darkness. Rather, they were markers, a signpost in the darkness. The darkness itself hugged him, cradled him and lulled him against the bright pain that seemed to get hotter and pushed him further away from his body. The lurching pain in his stomach spread outwards, ricocheting into his limbs and filling his neck and choking him. It snaked into his skull and Keith saw firworks in the inside of his skull as he fell to his knees, then faintly felt his body hit the floor.

—

Bright lights, bright- no, loud noise- grating and annoying, like an alarm clock on a day you didn’t need to wake- 

THUNK!

His ears were ringing and his head is throbbing, but he was awake now. One eye snapped open as he groaned and reached for the back of his head. Keith’s cheek was still pressed on the floor of the castle and the only thing he could immediately see was a bowl, a few dried traces of food goo left stuck to its rim, spinning slowly on the floor where it must have landed after smacking into his head. He looked up to see why he’d had a bowl just lobbed at him, and was surprised to see Lance. 

Lance was standing ten feet down the hall from Keith dressed in his pajamas with his face mask still smeared across his cheeks. That wasn’t abnormal early in the morning, but there was a terror present in Keith’s eyes. His hands clutched the open edges of his robe and his lips were trembling, mouthing soft words Keith couldn’t hear from his distance. 

Keith pushed himself sitting up and opened his other eyes, squinting at the bright light of the castle in daytime. 

“Why did you just throw a bowl at m-”

“FREEZE!” The unexpected command actually had Keith obeying for a moment, shocked motionless as Lance panickedly patted his sides for a weapon. “Ah, quiznaks! My bayard’s back in my room! No matter!” His hands balled into fists, Lance took a heroic step forward with his chin thrust out triumphantly. “I won’t let you hurt my friends, you galra scum!”

What?

“Lance, have you gone crazy??” 

“How do you know my name?” He narrowed his eyes. “And you did you even get into the castle, we haven’t stopped at a planet in days!

The snarl was an instinctive response, he wasn’t even mad really just confused and annoyed but the immediate reaction from Lance is beyond confusing- Keith’s lip curls back and instead of insulting him or being generally antagonistic, Lance’s smirk drops and he turns the other direction and runs. 

“HEEEEEEEEELP! GALRA ON BOARD! LITERALLY ON BOARD, HE’S RIGHT BEHIND ME!” 

“Lance?!” Keith scrambled to his feet and ran after him, whatever game he was playing was dangerous- Allura was going to hear and put the whole castle in defense mode! His feet were still half asleep from his impromptu nap, Keith rounded a corner and Lance wasn’t there. He paused, chest heaving with effort, and that’s when he finally noticed. 

His arms had gone purple. He turned them over a few times, blinking to really make sure he wasn’t still dreaming. His arms were purple, and his fingers ended in curved claws instead of nails. The skin of his hands faded into soft fuzz on his forearms, one finger trailed up his shoulder and to his neck and there it went into outright fur. He didn’t even touch his ears, he could feel them swivel in confusion atop his head as he stood rigid with fear and confusion. 

What did this all mean, what had happened? Keith wracked his brain but he couldn’t come up with an immediate answer, whether that was from a lack of any good one or just pressure was to be see-

“HIYAAAAAAAAH!” Keith was blind-sided suddenly by a fist colliding directly to his cheek. It knocked him to the ground, shaking an undignified grunt from him as he hit the ground. Lance was all confidence again as he stood over Keith. 

“Ha, bet you didn’t expect THAT, did you?” 

Keith would later willingly admit that the correct path here would have been to try and explain to Lance the situation, not to pounce on him and start beating his face in. It was very satisfying though. 

The other members of team Voltron ran into the hallway, all in states of night-dress except for Shiro who was in armor and Pidge who probably never slept. All Shiro saw immediately was Lance and a galra duking it out on the ground, and bravely he stepped in and used his metal arm to grab Keith around his chest and use his arm to force him against the wall. 

“You know, I’m getting really sick of being knocked against things!” Keith spat with his face half-pressed against the wall. Shiro’s grip on him relaxed.

“Keith?” His hands were still gripping Keith’s hands, but Shiro let Keith enough slack to turn and look at the humans and alien staring at him. 

“Well… I gotta say, last I remember, Keith did not have fuzzy cat ears and weird yellow eyes.” Hunk had his lips pressed into a thin, worried line. 

“But that does look like him, and sound like him.” Pidge cocked her head to the side. 

“It’s even wearing his clothes… OH GOD, IT ATE KEITH!” Lance hugged Hunk’s arm with dramatic, watery tears swimming in his eyes. 

“Galra’s can eat people?!” 

“No, they can not. Shiro, let me look at him.” Allura was poised and in charge even in her nightgown. The teens stepped to the side and let the princess step forward. Keith was glad to not be sandwiched between Shiro and the wall anymore but Allura’s sudden grip on his jaw wasn’t anymore comfortable. 

“I just woke up like this, I swear!” Keith tried to articulate while Allura had his bottom jaw in custody. “I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s me- I swear!” 

“I…. I do believe it’s him.” Allura’s unsure expression betrayed her uncertainty. “I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like this before, but it’s definitely Keith.” Keith sighed with relief. 

“If it’s Keith, than why did he attack me?” Lance pointed out. 

“You threw a bowl at my head, and then punched me in the face when I wasn’t looking!” Keith’s ears pulled up to their full height as he snapped. 

“….Fair enough.” Lance conceded. 

“We’ll have to do some tests to figure out what’s happened. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is some sort of galra tactic that you’re on the receiving end of.” 

“Just turning Keith into a galra doesn’t seem like it would help their cause very much.” Pidge didn’t seem worried like the others were, just a voice of reason as she looked over Keith curiously. Lance and hunk stood close together warily, still eyeing Keith as Shiro let go of him. 

Keith was surprised by the weight of Shiro’s arm on his shoulder. He looked up and Shiro smiled at him warmly without a hint of fear in his expression. 

“Don’t worry, I know Keith, and this is him. We don’t have to worry about him.”

“Maybe, just as a precaution, keep an eye on him just in case?” Hunk suggested while avoiding eye contact. “Not that I don’t trust you, Keith, but galra do try to kill us on an almost daily basis at this point, better safe than sorry.” 

“Shiro, if you’ll escort Keith to the healing pods, I believe we can use them to inspect whatever it is that’s happened to him.” Allura yawned. Keith found that almost funny, so she did get tired, huh?

“One second, Shiro.” Keith smiled apologetically and turned to face Lance. Hunk saw it coming a second before Lance did, but the warning wasn’t even a syllable out before Keith’s fist made contact with Lance’s face. Hunk caught Lance, panicking over the red welt on his cheek as Keith turned back to Shiro’s disappointed look. 

“He deserved it, in my defense.”


End file.
